I'm trying to find where my place is
I'm looking for my own oasis
So close I can taste this
The fear that love alone erases

So I'm back to the basics
I figure it's time I face this
Time to take my own advice
Love alone is worth the fight

And I never thought I’d come to this
But it seems like I'm finally feeling numb to this
The funny thing about a name is
You forget what the reason you were playing the game is

And it's all an illusion
A 21st century institution
So I'm heading down the open road unknown

And we find what we're made of
Through the open door
Is it fear you're afraid of?
What are you waiting for?

Love alone is worth the fight

We're only here for a season
I'm looking for the rhyme and reason
Why you’re born, why you leaving?
What you fear and what you believe in

Why you living and breathing?
Why you fighting it and getting it even?
Let's go headed down the open road unknown

And we find what we're made of
Through the open door
Is it fear you're afraid of?
What are you waiting for?

Love alone is worth the fight

Here we are here we go
Where the road is our own
Hear it calling you home
Here we are here we go

Love alone is worth the fight




Behind the Song:
"In order to write well, a poet need to go to that place where energy and intensity concentrate, that place just beyond which chaos and randomness reign." - Gregory Orr

Where do songs come from? For me, they come from the uncomfortable places. Awkward, painful places where I feel tested- face to face with the questions that don't have easy answers. In this process, some songs arrive intact. It's as if they write themselves- jumping off of your tongue, breathing their own life from the first note. Other songs are chased down, tackled, coaxed back to life and glued together. These songs require extra effort and are usually built around a big concept- big enough to make you want to work for it.

Over the years I've experienced both sides of songwriting styles. Neither is better or worse, but sometimes the bigger fish put up a bigger fight. These are the creatures that won't be tamed. Claws, fangs... dangerous and beautiful stuff. Using this metaphor, Fading West is the biggest fish we've ever tried to reel in.

Musically speaking this album was the most challenging we've ever faced. (And all of that without mentioning the challenge of creating our own indie film at the same time!) Suffice it to say we're very proud of the final outcome. We're thankful to be on the other side and we can't wait for you to hear the songs that the journey produced.

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Love Alone is Worth the Fight

"Listen, are you breathing just a little and calling it a life?
... Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"
-Mary Oliver

Charlie Peacock, (the producer who signed us to our first record deal when we were still in our teens), sat us down one time and began to tell us what he had learned over the years. He told us, "You can sell millions of albums, you can be number one on radio charts, you can win Grammys and more- but at the end of all of this, none of that matters as much as the people around you."

"Love Alone is Worth The Fight." For me this title sums up the past 15 years of our time as a band- nothing else is worth the fight, worth the struggle, worth the scars. Nothing else even comes close. Not sex, not drugs, not even rock and roll. From time to time we all come to those difficult moments of struggle- when life becomes a fight. Maybe we are depressed and can't seem to find a way out. Or maybe we're dealing with the loss of someone we love. And maybe in that existential moment we begin to wonder what we're living for, what we're aiming for, what we're struggling for.

I've been there many times. Times when I question my God, myself, and everyone around me. Dark thoughts swim around my head, threatening to take control. I begin to fear that my existence has no purpose, that I'm alone without hope. It's times like these that force me to consider the bigger questions in life. Those are the times when my identity is forged in a deeper awareness of my Creator/ re- Creator's love for me. When I am aware of this love- my purpose is clear, my dignity cannot be threatened. My fears seem so small from this unassailable perspective.

Yes, there are dark times when I fear the unknown. I fear pain, I fear humiliation, I'm afraid of the unknown within myself. But reacting blindly, driven by our fears leads us to horrible places. Maybe fear is love's true opposite. Racism, genocide, religious wars- these are fueled by fear. Most of my worst decisions, including hatred, are fueled by fear. But perfect love casts out fears. Perfect love brings us to a place of strength where we can accept the people and situation around us rather than fear it or deny it.

Love alone is worth the fight. It's a purifying reminder. We all need to ask ourselves the big questions- why are you alive? What's your motivation? The applause? The money? The crowd goes away and the money runs out pretty fast. But love is worth the struggle, greater than our fears, embracing those around us. For me, this song encapsulates the story of the film and our story as a band. -- Jon Foreman